Tales Of The 2SHINY: Brighter Lights, Summer Travels, and Preparing For Our First Trip Across The Galaxy

Now That Serenity Had Her Name, I designed and ordered a custom spare tire cover and license plates and holders. I ordered Serenity a new air conditioner cover, and when they arived I peeled off the old weathered spare tire cover and custom ordered one with the symbol that was on the Serenity ship from Firefly. That summer we took her on a few trips. We went up and stayed in Kenai for a night with our daughter for a test run. Laura didn’t want to stay in the Walmart parking lot, and we didn’t want to pay for a camping spot so we drove around until we settled on a cute little park overlooking the river.

We turned on the stove, cooked some dinner, and played some board games. As the night got darker, so did the company. Cars started pulling up around us bumping their stereos, people that were obviously drunk started tapping on our windows, and police cars were constantly pulling in and out. Needless to say- a few hours later we were headed to Walmart. We had always joked that we were a dolphin in a sea of Land Whales. (what I liked to call the larger class Rvs) So after our drive, as we snuggled in safely surrounded by a group of other motorhomes, it was that night Laura decided that there was safety in The Pod.

The next day we got some shopping in, and managed to fit in a pair of brand new bikes for the girls!

We also ordered custom plates and plate holders and installed them. She was turning out Shiny!

I had felt bad covering up the original Dolphin on the rear of the RV. So I decided I wanted to build a new one. Coincidentally, I had a Dolphin shaped mirror from Hawaii that was about the right size. I held it up in place while we tested lights on it, making sure it was not going to be blinding drivers behind us. Once we were sure that a car’s windshield would have to be about 4 feet behind the RV to be blasted with light, we decided we were good to go. I used some sticky tack and silicone caulking to set the dolphin in place. Once it was set I painted in the edges of the piece with Gaco to really make sure it was fully mounted and secure.

It was a good and a bad plan- I should have clear coated the whole piece- because eventually the mirror pieces began to fall off from the backing. I knew eventually our shining logo was going to become just a black backer board. 🙁

The other memorable trip we took that summer was pretty close to home. At the beginning of August, about half an hour north of Homer in the tiny town of Ninilchik, there one of Alaska’s biggest music festival takes place; Salmonfest.

Each year we volunteer with an organization called the Cook Inlet. Keeper: https://inletkeeper.org/ The event requires most of the vendor food products be compostable, so we help people put those items along with recyclables in the right waste bins so they are easily sorted for processing. It’s a good cause and it gives us the perfect excuse to get to enjoy 3 days of live music and good times. 😉

When we first rolled into Ninilchik we were pretty excited, as people turned to look at our custom Dolphin they would wave. As we drove through the event I noticed one of them was pointing up. When I pulled over I found I forgot to lock one of the roof storage pods, and the top had been flapping in the wind. This had caused it to crack. (Idiot- I wouldn’t make that mistake ever again!) With much chagrin I locked it down, knowing I would have to repair it when we got back home.

Anyway- we had an awesome weekend, got to see so much good music. (Highlight was definitely Michael Franti and Spearhead!)

Every year we look forward to camping up at Salmonfest now. 🙂

So during this time I was pulling bulbs from Serenity, spending my evenings researching LED replacements for them, and ordering them from Amazon. I was 90% percent successful in this process- but ran into a wall when it came to the headlights. I did manage to upgrade all the exterior and interior lights throughout the RV otherwise- I even pulled open the dash and upgraded the instrument cluster lights!

I had put the same LED headlights in a few other vehicles- but this was my first Toyota upgrade. I had dealt with having to adjust the pins, so when the headlights were not coming on in unison or the brights weren’t working I figured it was a pin combination issue. Laura and I got out a piece of paper and a pencil, and started trying to eliminate combinations. We pulled the nose of the RV under our entry carport, switched, and recorded pin combinations for hours on end. Finally, we called it. At least we could get both headlights to work- we just didn’t have brights.

So I researched it and determined I needed a new wiring harness. I ordered it and when it arrived I researched how to install it. Well… I had no idea in the end how to actually put it in- so I hired a great guy who had just launched his new shop. He loved doing electronic work in vehicles, and was interested in branching into that area of the RV market. I also researched, ordered, and had them install a wireless backup camera at the same time! Now we were going to be able to see clearly in front and behind us! If you are in Homer and looking for a good place to get your vehicle electronics worked on- check out Redline Automotive! https://www.redlineautoak.com/about-us

I drove out to the closest small town to Homer, Anchor Point, where the had the last remaining salvage yard around. Laura helped me and we pulled the mirrors off an old shuttle bus from Anchorage- the new mirrors on her are awesome!

So we drove Serenity around Homer for the fall- enjoying our new custom blinging, lights, and adjusting our backup camera as we put it to use. During our summer travels the old RV entry handle stopped being able to lock. I took it to a locksmith but he recommended that we replace the whole handle. The old Bargman lock was just too old and parts were not going to be available for anything close to affordable. I installed a hasp lock for the time until I could figure out a replacement.

We decided with Winter on it’s way that we wanted to plan a (what would become) a yearly camp out with my some of my old coworkers, and one last big Anchorage trip before we had to winterize her for the season. We decided we would celebrate my birthday with the big test run, the five hour trip to Anchorage! We would spend the weekend up there, score some sweet board games, scope out all the RV supply stores, and enjoy the “big city”. Towards the end of August we scored some spots at Johnson Lake and spent some a wonderful night with good friends.

Then all that was left for the season was the big run to Anchorage.

Geoff Murphy 1-12-2020